Plein Air Festival

The French phrase "en plein air" means "in the open air" At the end of the 19th century this type of

outdoor painting was practically unheard of. Then along came English painter, John Constable. He 

was kind of a rebel in the art world deciding to forget formulas, find truth in nature and trust your own vision. He began to create sketches outdoors and then finished them into full sized paintings in his studio.

Our cottage is near an art school and every year they host a Plein Air Painting Festival. It is fascinating to watch these artists create small masterpieces of everyday flowers, houses and scenes using their oil paints.

This particular piece (above and below) is one of my favorites. He is painting a couple of old summer cottages, but what this photograph does not capture is the thick texture the artist has built up on the canvas using the oil paints. I've never been a fan of working with oils because I like instant gratification and oil paint takes so long to dry.  But watching these artists work makes me want to give it a try. Perhaps someday.

I was amazed at how close to each other some of the artists placed their easels. That was because  sometimes there was a favored subject more than one person wanted to paint, like this pair of old bicycles in back of this house.

Old and young alike participated - age doesn't make a difference when it comes to creating art.

When I arrived I parked my car near this artist, at which time her canvas only had a background of purple paint. When I returned to my car, she was finished and rushing off to get her painting turned in to the judges. You see, the contest this day was to create a plein air painting in under two hours! Can you imagine? Sounds like a fun challenge, but much too much pressure for me....especially with people looking over your shoulder why you work!

Instagram Wednesday

I saw this painted stair riser idea in the April issue of Woman's Day Magazine. isn't it great? I would love to try this someday. For another painted stair idea click here.

A Beautiful Way to Spend a Sunday

Yesterday I went to a wonderful art gallery to watch artist Tom Nachreiner demonstrate his plein air oil painting techniques. If you look closely, the canvas he is painting on is

upside down.

Above is the photograph he is painting from. Tom says that starting the background of his paintings upside down allows him to not get bogged down with the details of the photograph and concentrate only on the basic shapes.

Here is his painting (still a work in progress) shown right side up.

Part of the art gallery is located in the woods, which creates a beautiful natural backdrop for some of the sculptures.

Need Some Creative Inspiration?

I did a little bookshelf detashing over the weekend. And I've decided to part with the books shown below. If you are interested in any of these, they are $5.00 each + shipping via media mail. Just leave your email address in the comments section below, along with whichever title(s) you are interested in and I will send you a Paypal invoice. For a closer look and a brief description of each book, just click on the highlighted titles at the bottom of this post. All books are soft-covered, in excellent condition and regular prices range from $12.95 to $35.00.1. Celebrate Your Stories, 2. Making Greeting Cards with Rubber Stamps, 3. Making the Most of Your Scrapbook Supplies, 4. Creative Embellishments, 5. The Watercolourist's Garden, 6. Painting Flowers from A to Z, 7. Water Color Basics, 8. Unique Handmade Books, 9. Creative Collage for Crafters, 10. The Big Book of Decorative Painting, 11. The New Photo Crafts, 12. Beyond Metal, 13. Making Gifts with Rubber Stamps, 14. Stamp Art